William



OIL CAN TOP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5.1919.

1 ,320,932. Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

WILLIAM AUGUST SCHMIDT, OF LEWISTOW 1\T MON TANA.`

OIL-CAN' TOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1919.

i Application filed .Tune 5, 1919. Serial No. 301,875.

To all whom t may conce/m:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM AUGUST SCHMIDT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Lewistown, in the county of Fergus and Stateof Montana, have invented a new and Improved Oil-Can Top, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to receptacles and has particular reference toreceptacles for dispensing liquids such as oil cans.

This invention constitutes an improvement over that covered by LettersPatent of the United States,rNo. 1,195,102, issued to me on the 15th dayof August, 1916.

Among the objects of the present improvement is to improve thearrangement and control of the pour-out valve so as to make the samemore reliable in practice and more easily manipulated.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for easily anddelicately controlling the frictional adjustment of the valve actuatingmeans.

lWith the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists inthe arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the eXact detailsof construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose ofillustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a verticaltransverse section' on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan View partly in horizontal section on theline 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings I show'my invention ascomprising a top 10 applied to a receptacle 11 of any suitable size,design or construction. F or the purposes of this description it may beassumed that the receptacle is intended for kerosene oil from whichlamps are to be filled periodically through a `pour-out spout 127although it is to be distinctly un` derstood that the device has abroader field of usefulness. Y y

A valve 13 cooperates with the inner end of the spout 12 and is heldresilientlyagainst the same for closing it, by virtue of a long leafspring 14 whose opposite end kis secured at 15 at one side ofthe top 10.By arranging the spring thus in a substantial horizontal plane thespring may be made much longer than 1n the previous device, andconsequently the valve 13 may be manipulated to its final position withless effort than if the spring were shortened.

At any convenient or desired part of the top 10 I mount the valveactuating means preferably in or in connection with a depression 10formed in the top. This produces a neater construction and affords ashroud or guard reventing damageW to the actuating means t at mightresult from objects being set upon the can or otherwise coming intocontact with the moving parts. The actuating means include a fingerpiece or actuator 16 includino` a disk 17. A lever 18 likewise ispreferably formed integral with a disk 19 having a stud 20 projectingthrough a bearing -hole 21 formed in the top. The stud 20 includes acylindrical bearing portion tted directly in the hole 21 and providedabove the bearing portion with a polygonal shoulder 22 and havingextending upward from that a reduced threaded portion 28. The shoulder22 is fitted in a correspondingly formed hole in the center of the .disk17, these vparts being held together firmly by means of a nut 24 fittedon the threaded end 23 of the stud. Since the actuator is thus lockedfrom rotation with respect to the lever 18 the movement of either theactuator or the lever will cause a similar movement of the other aroundthe aXis of the stud 20.

The upper face of the disk 19 and the lower face of the disk 17 may haveany suit able character or relation to the fiat bottom portion of thedepression 10, but I show said faces of the disks as countersunk formiing pits for gasket members such as corks 25 and 26 fitted snugly insaid pits and held from rotation by any suitable means such as thefriction of the .surrounding fianges 25 and 26 in connection with thefriction between the gaskets and the stud 2O so that the gaskets arecaused to rotate with the actuator and lever and remain stationary whenthese parts are stationary.

The disks 17 and 19 are provided with registering' ports 27 and 28 andthe gaskets 25 and- 26 are similarly provided with ports 29 registeringwith the disk ports. The flat bottom of the depression 10 is providedwith an air port or vent 30, the same being normally closed or sealed bythe gaskets 25 spout 12.

and 26 when the 'alve 13 is held closed by its spring 14E but so locatedthat when the actuator is moved in a clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 2 to its dotted line position against a stop 31 all of the aforesaidports register giving free admission of air to allow the free outflowof' the oil through the The lever 1S is connected by means of a link 32with valve 13, said link of any suitable material being connected in aneye 33 at the end of the lever and in an eye 34E constituting a part ofthe means fixing 'the valve 13 to the spring 14. The correlation betweenthe actuatorI 16 and the stop 31 provides for easy control of the valveduring the out-pouring action. In other words while the handle or bailof the can is employed by one hand for holding the can during theprocess of pouring, one finger of the same hand will be employed inholding the actuator against the stop 31, the hand serving at the sametime as a means for controlling the tilting of the can, three ngersgrasping the bail. 'This pressing back of the actuator by the finger isan easy natural action requiring a minimum amount of force. The bail onthis can is made somewhat shorter than common and the actuator may beplaced toward the side of the can top opposite to the pour out spout.The other hand grasps the flange at the bottom of the can. When theactuator is released the spring 14 promptly reseats the valve 13 andreturns the actuating devices to the position in which the port 30 isclosed excluding dirt or dust and preventing evaporation of the contentsof the can. Suitable tension between the gaskets 25 and26 and the cantop may be maintained by means of a spring 35 located between the nut 24and the actuator disk 17. This spring is shown in the form of a crosshaving a central hole and four arms diverging from the central portion.

I claim.: f

1. In an oil` can top having a pour-out nozzle, the combination with avalve to normally close the nozzle and a spring supporting the valvecontrolling its position, of actuator means for the valve comprising adisk within the can top and a lever connected to the disk, connectingmeans between the lever and the valve, said disk having a stud journaledin and projecting upward through a hole in the can top, and a lingerpiece having rigid connection with the upper end ofl the stud.

2. In a device of the class set forth, the combination with a can tophaving a pourout nozzle, a valve 'for the nozzle and a spring carryingthe valve tending to close the valve and hold it closed, of actuatingmeans for the valve comprising a lever within the can top, a member towhich the lever is connected and an integral stud projecting upwardthrough the top and adapted to be rotated around the axis of the stud, afinger piece fixed to the upper end of the stud parallel to the leverwhereby the lever may be turned through an arc of circle around itspivot, and a stop member to limit the movement of the finger piece.

3. In a device of the character set forth, a can top having a bearinghole and a vent hole adjacent thereto, a disk within the top, abearingstud integral with the disk projecting' upward through thebearing hole and having a reduced polygonal shoulder, a finger piecehaving a correspondingly formed socket fixed upon the shoulder above thetop, gasket means located around the stud between the disk and fingerpiece, said linger piece, disk and gasket means being provided withregistering air holes, the air vent aforesaid being normally held closedby the gasket means but being so located that when the finger piece isoperated said vent hole will be brought into registry with the other airholes, and means cooperating with the upper end of the stud to force thefinger piece resiliently toward the disk and so maintain the gasketmeans under proper tension.

WILLIAll/I AUGUST SCHMIDT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

